3pm Kick Offs

Posted 11th Oct, 2018by Sportquake5 MINUTE SPORT MARKETING WEEK

La Liga has supported Eleven Sports’ decision to break UK blackout rules referring to Saturday afternoon kick-offs. Over the last two weeks the OTT service has ignored FA rules stating that matches on Saturday between 2:45pm and 5:15pm cannot be shown live in the UK, to protect match attendances.

The rule, which has stood in the UK since the 1960’s, was first breached by Eleven Sports at the end of September when the broadcaster streamed Barcelona’s 3:15pm kick-off against Athletic Bilbao. The Premier League has raised the matter with the FA however La Liga bosses are standing with Eleven Sports.

Joris Evers, La Liga’s chief communications officer, told The Times: “This type of blackout doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. It’s from a different age. We are aware of what Eleven Sports are doing and generally support them.”

Eleven Sports owner and Leeds United chairman, Andrea Radrizzani, has vowed to keep defying the ban and has said that the company are in discussions with Serie A about showing Italian games during the blackout.

Although Eleven Sports are in breach of a long-standing rule, the live broadcasts are now giving greater exposure to brands that wouldn’t normally be seen by at home audiences.